Land Use Lesson 6 Extension : Analyzing Forestland Changes - County
Like state governments, local governments and agencies must use reliable data and information to make decisions about the land use policies that are best for the county. The County Land Use Data Bank: Forestry presents data from the U.S.D.A. Forest Service. Students are thus making land use observations using the same information and tools employed by land use specialists.
The scientific analysis of trends in forestland use reflects on how other land uses in a county are changing. For example, some counties experienced major changes in land use from forests to agricultural to residential and commercial during the period shown by the data bank. In some counties, land use may have changed from farming to forests. Such changes have an impact on roadway congestion, enrollment in schools, the development of services in the local area, water supply, and sewage disposal. The appearance of the land may change greatly from forests to suburban development, shopping malls, golf courses, and fast food restaurants near busy intersections and along major roads. Locally, major changes may occur in a relatively short time.
The graphs students construct from these data will show how forestland use has been changing. In some counties it has increased, in others it has remained stable, and in still others it has decreased. Conventional wisdom leads people to conclude that some of the forestland is now being used for commercial, residential, recreational, and transportation uses. In some cases farm fields may have reverted to forests. While the specific amount of land used for various purposes is not known, students may speculate about land use changes based on observations in their own and other counties.
Like Lessons 5 and 6, this extension entails graphing. The bar graphs in this extension lesson will show what has happened in three counties since 1993. The bars will enable students to describe the changes in the past and to predict what the land use changes in forestry may be in the future. For example, if the forestry land use has been decreasing in recent years, it will probably decrease over the period 2010-2014. Trends can be identified from the bar graphs. Graphing and comparing are powerful means to develop concepts of land use and land use change.
The y-axis on the county graphs is in thousands of acres. Lines are on the graph for students to label each of the axes. Note that the y-axis does not start at zero. It is important to point this out if students are accustomed to working from zero at the base of the graph. As with Lessons 5 and 6, the students are working with big numbers.